YS, by the Quran which decrees, truly, you are one of the Messengers, on a Straight Path, according to the order descended by the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful. In order that you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are heedless. Indeed the Conjecture of punishment has proved true against most of them, so they will not believe. Verily! We have put on their necks iron collars reaching to the chins, in such a way that their heads are raised up, and We have put a barrier before them, and a barrier behind them, and then we covered them up so that they cannot see. It is the same to them whether you warn them or you warn them not, they will not believe. You can only warn him who follows the Reminder, and fears the Most Gracious without seeing Him. Bear you to such one the glad tidings of forgiveness, and a generous reward.

The Truth about the Previous Scripture (Torah, Bible)

What does the Quran say about the previous books? Were these books textually corrupted or were they available in an intact form at the time of the revelation of the Quran?

The following Quranic verse may indicate that they were indeed available intact:

[5:47] And the people of the Injeel shall rule in accordance with what God has brought down therein. Those who do not rule by what God has brought down are the wicked.

If the Injeel (the book God revealed to Jesus) at the time of the revelation of the Quran was corrupted, how can the people of the Injeel judge by what is in it?
To reply to this question it is necessary to read 5:46 and 5:47 together:

[5:46] Subsequent to them, We sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the Torah that is with him and We gave him the Injeel containing guidance and light and confirming the Torah that is with him and a guidance and enlightenment for the reverent.

[5:47] And the people of the Injeel shall rule in accordance with what God has brought down therein. Those who do not rule by what God has brought down are the wicked.

1- It is clear that God is speaking about the time of Jesus when God revealed to him the Injeel.

2- In 5:47 God speaks about the “people of the Injeel”, which speaks of the people who have access to the Injeel. As will be shown later, the Injeel which God revealed to Jesus has long been lost and destroyed. This happened around the Council of Nicaea in the year 325 A.D. which was 3 centuries before the revelation of the Quran. As a result, when the Quran was revealed there were no “people of the Injeel” nor are there any such people today. The New Testament we have today is not the Injeel.

The New Testament

Various English translation of the Quran use the word ‘gospel’ in place of Injeel. This is not an accurate word to use. The Gospel as is known today is the New Testament. God tells us that He gave the Injeel to Jesus:

[57:27] Then We sent Our messengers to follow in their footsteps, then to follow We sent Jesus the son of Mary. We gave him the Injeel and We placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him.

The New Testament (NT) we have today is not the Injeel for the following reasons:

1- The NT was written afterthe death of Jesus.
2- The NT is a collection of stories about Jesus, his teachings and his sayings. Did God give Jesus a book about his life and sayings?

3- The NT was written by men like Mathew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul who never met Jesus. God did not give the Injeel to those men, but it was given to Jesus.

The original Injeel that was given to Jesus was destroyed and the possession of any copies of it was banned after the council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. when the doctrine of the Trinity was adopted.

It is clear that when God speaks of “the people of the Injeel” God is speaking of the people who received the Injeel and who had access to it. The Christians today, or those at the time of Muhammad, are not “the people of the Injeel”, for they follow a man made book (NT) and a religion (Christianity) that was never authorised by God nor was it ever preached by Jesus (Jesus was a practicing Jew all his life).

With this understanding, we attain the correct meaning of “the people of the Injeel” in 5:47. This phrase speaks of the original receivers of the Injeel and those who still had access to it. They were the ones who were commanded by God to rule according to what they were given in the Injeel.
All who follow the New Testament are in fact following man made hadith not any different from the hadith of Bukhari, Muslim and the others, while thinking that they are following the word of God!

The Old Testament

With regards to the Old Testament, we find a number of Quranic verses where God speaks of the Jews, or the people of Moses, and how they corrupted their scripture.
The Old Testament, which we have today, may indeed include some of the original Torah which God gave the Children of Israel, but also much of what we have today are corrupted additions and other parts being removed or lost from the original scripture, also words wrongly translated from the original, and other words taken out of their correct context. The Quran also speaks of those among the people of the book who add their own words to the scripture and claim it is from God:

Taking God’s words out of context:

[4:46] From amongst the Jews there are those who distort the words out of their context, and they say, “We hear and we disobey,” and “Your words are falling on deaf ears,” and “Be our shepherd,” as they twist their tongues to mock the religion.

[5:41] O messenger, do not be saddened by those who hasten to disbelieve among those who say, “We believe,” with their mouths, while their hearts do not believe. And among the Jews, some listened to lies. They listened to other people who have not come to you, and who distort the words out of context, then they say, “If you are given this, then take it, but if you are not given it, then beware.”

Distorting God’s words:

[2:75] Do you yearn for them to believe you, when some of them used to hear God’s words then distort them knowingly when they have understood them?

Adding their words to God’s scripture:

[3:78] Among them are a group who twist the scripture with their tongues so that you think it is from the scripture, when it is not from the scripture, and they say it is from God, when it is not from God, and they say lies about God, knowingly.

Deliberately concealing parts of the scripture:

The Quran also tells us about those who concealed parts of the scripture. We know there are many apocryphal texts rejected by Jews and Christians in 5:15:

[5:15] O people of the book, Our messenger has come to you to clarify to you many issues which you were concealing in the scripture, and to overlook much other issues. A light has come to you from God, and a profound scripture.

We know there are many apocryphal texts rejected by Jews and Christians in 5:15:

Indeed God speaks of the Injeel and the Torah as sources of guidance for the people. However, when God speaks of the Injeel or Torah God speaks about these scripture in their original pure form in which they were first revealed. When these scripture were revealed they were surely guidance for the people, but that was beforethey were corrupted (Torah) or totally lost (Injeel).

It is for that reason that God instructs the previous people of the book to believe in the Quran.

Invitation to the Jews and Christians to believe in the Quran:

When God says that the Quran supersedes previous scriptures, it is because God knows that the Injeel and the Torah would be either lost or corrupted:

[5:48] And We brought down to you the scripture (Quran), truthfully, confirming what is present of the scripture, and superseding it.

For this reason, God repeatedly commanded the people of the book (Jews and Christians) to believe the Quran.
In 2:89 and 2:90 we read about the people of the book who refused to believe in what was revealed after them of the scripture because they resented that God bestows His grace upon whomever He wills. Then in 2:91 we read:

[2:91] And when they are told, “You shall believe in what God has brought down,” they said, “We believe in what was brought down to us.” And they disbelieve in what came after it, which is the truth confirming what is with them! Say, “Why then did you kill God’s prophets before if you were believers?”

We read that those who truly believe among the people of the book will find no difficulty in believing in the Quran:

[2:121] Those whom We have given the scripture and they recite as it should be recited; they believe in this (Quran). As for those who disbelieve in it, they are the losers.

The instruction given to the people of the book to believe in the Quran is given in clear words:

[4:47] O you who have received the scripture, you shall believe in what we have brought down, confirming what you have, before we banish certain faces to exile, or curse them as we cursed the people of the Sabbath. God’s command is done.

Conclusion:

1- The previous scripture were either lost (the Injeel) or were corrupted (Torah).
2- The Quranic instruction to the people of the book to rule according to their scripture speaks only of the receivers of the original scripture when they were in their intact uncorrupted form.
3- The receivers of the previous scripture are required to believe in the Quran.

2 thoughts on “The Truth about the Previous Scripture (Torah, Bible)”

This is NOT True. Jesus Christ is God and his Apostles except Paul did know Him. Do not deceive people or you are like devil worshipers. Quran was a later compilation from Bible and Tora with no fundament.